The Columbia Specimen Bank

The Columbia University Medical Center is situated in northern Manhattan, right near the George Washington Bridge.  This location provides easy access to many of the most heavily endemic areas for Lyme disease, including New Jersey, New York (especially Long Island and the northern counties of  Westchester, Dutchess and Columbia), Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.  As such, we have access to scores of patients afflicted with Lyme disease – some newly infected and some who have struggled with the disease for many years.

To enhance and promote research focused on improved diagnostic tests, we are committed to the establishment of a serum and spinal fluid specimen bank that can be accessed for study both by researchers at Columbia and by researchers from throughout the world.  Each of these specimens will come from well-characterized patients, some of whom will have received a very extensive battery of other tests as well – immunologic, genetic, imaging, neurocognitive, clinical profiling.  This is an essential national resource.

To further characterize the extent of involvement and damage by Borrelia burgdorferi in humans, brain and spinal cord tissue from patients who have died with a diagnosis of a dementing illness is being “banked” for current and future investigation at the NYS Psychiatric Institute.  Patients with a history of well-documented Lyme disease who wish to add to their wills a statement regarding donation of brain, spinal cord, or other tissue should contact us.  In addition, these patients should complete the on-line clinical history form and be as thorough as possible.  Putting aside in a safe place one’s medical history and laboratory tests can be an invaluable aid in post-mortem investigations.  This kind of a donation is an invaluable component of a better scientific understanding of the neuropathologic effects of Lyme disease. Dr. Andrew Dwork directs neuropathology investigations and should be contacted when brain or spinal cord donations are considered (212-543-5563).

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